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Without demanding top players, the technology of the sport would suffer.

I don't take my direction from what Pro players use. They are largely driven but the need for money. Not as individuals but the team. It costs big bucks to fund a pro team.

I look more to AM teams for clues of what technology works best.

I play for a Novice team. We don't play NPPL yet but we do frequently play NPPL AM teams in open tourneys. There are a few that don't need R or X ratings but most seem less than concerned about sportsmanship.

Not quite TV ready.

Scorch

------------------I'm an artist. Please don't wipe my work until you show it to the ref.

i play pan am, and i follow it closely have to check who has this many points or who made the finals ect. one game WGP factory team was playing the SF hornets and the right tape for WGP gun went down ( i love mags) he left the game cussing and shouting and he was able to throw his autococker preety far ( into the mud)
this was all in young guns( 15 and under)
this kid is already too bad for paintball.
the SF hornets young gun team was really nice(unlike the older hornets)
i talked to them for three hours. and still do when i go to there feild they let us practice with them and stuff.
this is what turneyball is about and intense paintball.

i do follow pro when i have a chance.

Go THE FAMILY, aftershock

------------------
in the biggining god created two gun and he said thuo automag shall be for the just and fair and the autococker for the evil and cheaters.

The closest I've come to "Pros" were AM A NPPL Tournament players. They only discussed 3 things, 1) Themselves. 2)Their Angel. 3) Why your gun sucks. I guess you could say I don't have much interest in "Pro" paintball players. I think I would follow the tournament scene more closely if some organization would form to encompass the sport. How many Leagues, Organizations, and Federations exist? Too many.

From what I have read about tournament purses it would seem difficult for anyone to truly make a living purely from tournament winnings. Rightly or wrongly I think of "pro" paintball players as avid hobbyists who use equipment from any company that will sponsor them (within reason). Nothing wrong with that, same thing with Nike and basketball players although for much higher $$. I don't want to spray 2 cases of paint per day and sink thousands of dollars into paintball equipment. I'm a rec player who wants well made, trouble free gear rather than the latest gadgets in the hottest new color. I play mainly woods rec ball and scenario games so hyperball competition results hold little interest for me. I bought my Mag after reading posts that stated AGD markers could be run over by a semi and tossed in the trunk for 3 months and still shoot like new. The excellent customer service offered by AGD was also a major selling point and AGD has truly lived up to and even surpassed this reputation! Keep up the good work!

Way way back in the day when I played my first NPPL event at the 93 World Cup in Ny, I was looking around and I found Bob Long and the Ironmen. I actually want to ask him some questions about my MiniCocker which was an evil evil gun that didn't like me very much. When I found Bob I talked to him as he got readdy for a game and he was very pleasant and nice as were Dirk, Shane, Marty B and several other guys. Then I met up with Bob Rose ( Rosie ) from GZ now ( back then Master Blasters ) and we talked and as he reffed and I watched games I was impressed at how some people ( like Rosie, and the players from Bad Co UK ) took the reffing as a responcabily to be done right. They cleaned out bunkers between games, they refed very fair and were on top of everything on the field. Some of these people were from teams like Bad Company UK, Master Blasters etc. These guys showed me what it was to be a "Pro"

We got help from Ed Head ( Jax Warriors ) when we need more paint for the Semis and Finals ( they Went Pro at this event as I recall because they were the first to use Compressed Air, I recall a skid of Scuba Tanks they filled from ), we got help from Smart Parts ( Billy and Adam ) over all it was a great event for us. We ended up winning the Amature event, after a first day where we were happy that we were not in 28th place of 28 teams Playing 3 pro teams your first day in your first "national" level event is one hell of a wake up call. Next day we drew Aftershock and had them 6 v 4 and then they turned on the Mojo and spanked us not loosing another player. We made it in by 5 points after waxing our 2 other Am teams on Day 2.

But over the years I have seen how the game has changed. Where large distributors/Manufactures wield more power than would be reasonable and use that influance to change the course of games/events, get teams to lay down and in general manipulate thing to suit them.

I have seen a player Wipe a goggle hit in front of spectators, and then right after that get cut from his team. I have seen players play on to the point that they told the guy they cheat "Sorry dude but I HAD to get you out of there". Then I have see guys get clipped on the loader and call them selves out instead of whipping it, burrying it in the bunker or other act.

As with life you have your selection of a-holes and nice guys, so don't judge them all or make blakent statements about how they all cheat and wipe.

As with walk ons you dont know everything thats going on, on the field, just because you think you saw a guy get shot doesnt mean he did, or that he wiped the hit. Thats the biggest thing I see mistaken when Rec ballers watch Top level teams play.

heres my prob with pro.
1. too many mullets.
2. yes im kidding, i know its just the generation

ive only met one pro player...thatd be stormin' norman, and hes a wicked guy. as for the rest?? i only know what ive seen and plenty of it is bad. but lets face it, theres not a HUGE to be pro. no money, cars ,women etc...as with other sports. just the game. so yeah...maybe they can act a little childish...yeah some cheat and it disgusts me...but look around. ive never heard a bad word about the JAX, and then there Russian Legion, these guys are deadly serious...more and more teams are like this now as larger better sponsors get into it, bigger prizes, more attention etc... its going the way we want it to be, but give it a couple years yet. and if you think other pro sports are immune??? *cough*charlesbarkley,edbelfour(my fav goalie btw),claudelemieux*cough* etc...
like i said...give it a bit and we'll see. they wont be pulling crap when its on national television. as for the good ones...ie.JAX,Legion,Family(man i hate that wholesome name tho) you command true respect from us, your fans.

Over the years, I've had the opportunity to meet with a whole lot of tournament players. Most Amateur players I've spoken with were nice enough, but talk about people that were full of themselves, (see what I did, look how good we are, or were getting screwed, that's why we are not winning.) As far as pros, they include guys from AAs, both Ironmen, Shock, Lockout, and Bad Co. Sometimes they were quick and didnt spend a lot of time, but that only happened at large tourneys and I have to admit, they looked busy when I started bugging them. When I was on a pretty new team a long while back, we played with/against the AAs often, they were absolutly awesome, they showed us different ways to play individually and as a team. (all by the way are completely on the up and up)years later at the Pitt NPPL we were playing in the 5 man and Robbos hotel room was directly across from ours and he spent about 4 hours over the course of the weekend giving us one of his famous training days in our room. Then later I tried out for Bad Co 2.(BTW they asked me to stay, but it was their last practice before they broke up)They were kind of kool in the morning, but once they realized that I could hang with them they treated me better than any amateur team ever has, great bunch of guys. It seems like they all are like that for the most part, once they realize that your not going to ask them what that long plastic thing hanging from their neck is they warm up quite a bit. I must say that all the advice and thoughts they have shared have influenced me a lot, they opened my eyes to new ways of playing and then of course when I tried it and it worked, Sometimes I had to adjust my gear to fit a newer style of play. The real problem is with higher level am teams that think they are pros. I hate to point fingers, but I'm going to, remember the Oh-Nos( they won the first skyball-am) Some, NOT ALL, of them were real arrogant pricks. That seems to be the level of players that are problems. There are not a million actual pros floating around and I believe that a lot of newer players are confusing the "other" guys for pros. Well thats my 2 cents or 3 cents,looking back at the size of this

Exactly...another great example? Oliver Lang. This guy is so down to earth that he doesn't act cocky nor does he brag everytime I play with him. Despite the fact that he can decimate 5-6 of us with any other two people, be it low level tourney players or his boys, he still offers his gratitude for the game and sometimes he'll give us some advice if we need it.

<font face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by luke:Seems like this has turned into a Pro player bash. Its the same OLD attitude that's tagged onto any tourney team. Got to hand it to Jax-Warriors for even taking the time to register to make that post. </font>